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If you have an unpaid bill, a creditor or collection agency might threaten garnishment. Garnishment is a legal procedure to take your money, for example from your bank account or your wages. However, garnishment is not allowed until a court has determined that you owe the money. A creditor can not garnish any of your income until it first sues you and gets a court judgment.

About 30 to 40 days after filing the bankruptcy petition, you will have to attend a hearing presided over by a bankruptcy trustee. This hearing is called the First Meeting of Creditors. The trustee is not a judge, but a person appointed by the United States Trustee to oversee bankruptcy cases.

In most cases you will not lose your home or car during your bankruptcy case as long as your equity in the property is fully exempt. Even if your property is not fully exempt, you will be able to keep it, if you pay its non-exempt value to creditors in chapter 13.

A bankruptcy is reported on a credit report for 10 years, but that does not mean you cannot rebuild good credit during that time. The law allows a lender to loan money whenever the lender wants to, and nothing in bankruptcy prohibits a lender from making a loan after bankruptcy. Good credit is a history of paying bills on time and that is your goal after bankruptcy.

You cannot borrow any money without court permission IF you file a chapter 13 bankruptcy while your chapter 13 bankruptcy payment plan is still operating, so the answer for that specific time frame would be NO.